Lost Dog
by CrowNoYami
Summary: After the death of his brother when they killed Dick Roman, Sam hits a dog with the Impala. There was something different about the canine tough, something he couldn't quite put his finger on about the small corgi. *Part 1 of the Gabriel Monthly Challenge 2018


**Authors Note:** **Well this is going to be a series of one-shots for Gabriel's Monthly Challenge on Tumblr. You can find out more under the link: Please note that the prompts will be underlined.**

 _January Statement Prompt -_

 _It was going to be an adventure and, though he didn't know it yet, life would never be the same._

 _January Dialogue Prompt -_

" _Has it been so long that everyone's forgotten me?"_

 **Warnings:** **AU-While Kevin has half the demon tablet I am writing this as if Crowley never captured Kevin but is instead, hunting for him. Shape-Shifting, Infidelity (kind of)**

 **Lost Dog**

There was a lot to be said about the power of prayer. After everything they had been through, the bottom line was Sam often found himself right where he started; praying for help, for answers, even though now he understood hardly anyone was listening. It was a hard lesson to learn, and one he refused to believe. Not that Sam thought an angel would swoop in and risk themselves for him or his brother. No, there were only two angels who had ever gone to that length and both were now dead.

Castiel and Dean had died only a week ago, blown apart when Dick Roman was finally killed, taking the angel and human with him. Unlike the last time Dean was killed, Sam only spent a week morning his death, making certain Kevin was safe before he was once again on the road. This time he had no one, nothing to rely on. While he didn't take the offer, Bobby's door was open to him last time, the older hunter calling whenever he could to check in on Sam, but now even he was gone.

The second angel to ever stand up for the Winchesters and the only one he prayed to any longer, was long-gone, killed by his own brother while trying to give Sam and Dean time to escape. Sam had never mentioned to his brother how he knew it wasn't over Kali. While Gabriel might have once loved the woman, it had long since burnt out. No, there was a glimmer in the other's eyes while he looked back at Sam, willing Sam to listen and take his chance to run. Gabriel hadn't died for the goddess, he had died for Sam, to give Sam a chance to end things.

It was a shame the archangel never saw his plan succeed even if it wasn't perhaps the way he wanted. Keeping his hand on the wheel, Sam used his other to brush his hair away from his face. The momentary distraction was enough for something to dart out in front of him. Slamming on the breaks, Sam jerked the wheel, trying to get out of the way of whatever had tried to commit suicide via car.

Once the car stopped, Sam put it in park before making his way outside, his knife safely tucked behind the back of his jeans. Laying on the side of the road was a dog, it's fur matted with blood and making small whimpering sounds. It was only small, and growling closer Sam guessed that it was a corgi or at least a mix of one. Carefully, Sam moved toward the injured animal, well aware it could perceive him as a threat and turn on him. Instead of looking angrily at the man who had at the very least clipped him with his car, the dog lifted his head from where he had been licking his leg and watched as Sam approached.

There was something there in the dog's honey-eyes Sam almost recognized. Still, Sam reached out his hand slowly toward the animal, not wanting to spook the injured thing. "Hey boy," began Sam, speaking softly to the dog. "I'm not going to hurt you, but I need to see how bad it is. Please don't bite me." The dog lifted his head ever so slightly until his chilled nose bumped Sam's hand. For a moment, Sam let his fingers run through the soft fur of the dog's snout, slowly moving his hand to inspect the small head and ears for any injuries.

"There, there boy, it's okay." Whispering to the dog, Sam continued to inspect the dog, careful once he found a wet patch of fur. The dog didn't attack but rolled onto his good side so Sam could inspect his bad one. Not wanting to jinx his good fortune of not being bitten, Sam parted the light brown fur, using the headlights from the car to see the long gash on the dog's hind leg. The gash wasn't deep enough Sam would have needed to be stitched, but it was bleeding and caused the tall man to worry.

First-aid on humans he knew, it was part of the job, but with animals, he knew next to nothing. "Alright boy, I'm gonna need you to stay calm while I get you in the car." Carefully, while watching the dogs' teeth, Sam used his long arms to scoop the dog up. With a bit of a grunt caused by the animal wiggling, Sam popped open the back seat and set the dog carefully down. Climbing into the front of the car, Sam looked in the rear-view mirror at the dog who was licking at the wound.

The way he saw it he had the option of either finding the nearest vet or he could continue to his next hunt a couple towns over. Watching as the dog stopped licking and curled securely into the seat, Sam made his choice and pulled back onto the highway. If the dog got worse he would take him to a vet, until then people were dying.

It didn't take long for Sam to realize there was something different about his dog. The second he started to notice that not only did the dog understand him, but seemed to understand those around him, Sam tested the animal. At first, his guess was skin-walker, which was ruled out by a quick press of silver, also ruling out a werewolf. Still, the whiskey eyes which followed him held an intelligence Sam found slightly unnerving. Sam didn't kick the dog out, while the wound slowly healed the dog remained at his side.

Having a companion was a welcome distraction, one who always seemed to sense when Sam was thinking too heavily into things he couldn't change. As the nights rolled on, Sam grew accustomed to the strangeness of his new friend, almost easily accepting the dog into his life. They got along fine, Sam would make certain the animal was fed and had plenty of water when he had to leave whatever motel they were staying in, and the dog who he had named Flash never whined or barked and was always good about using the washroom outside.

Until Sam tried to take someone home. The first time Sam had thought it an accident, he had picked up a woman at a bar and upon opening the doorway to his motel had to act fast as Flash tried to live up to his namesake in how quickly he darted at the woman, snarling. It didn't take long for her to leave, the second she was gone Flash went back to wagging his stubby tail and licking at Sam's face.

Brushing the incident aside, Sam had gone on as he normally did, finding hunts and keeping tabs with Kevin who was starting to go a bit shack-happy. The second time Sam tried to bring someone home ending like the last, Sam stopped trying for a while. On his third try Sam was smarter and went to her place, but when he returned Flash wouldn't so much as look at him for days, whining and whimpering often. It wasn't until Sam promised not to leave him again that Flash seemed to hesitantly allow Sam to near him.

It was strange, but not as strange as how Flash would often rub against Sam, almost as though he were scent-marking the man before he would leave to work a case. A few more weeks on the road, four months since he met Flash and Kevin called saying he needed help. Without thought, Sam had Flash in the car and was on his way to Kevin. When he found the young prophet, he was alone. Both Sam and Flash were tested with Holy Water before allowed inside the warehouse the other was staying in.

"I thought you would take longer, and since when do you have a dog?" the younger man asked. Flash barked happily before trotting over to Kevin and sitting down, his small tail wagging while he looked up at the young man. Sam smiled before speaking as Kevin reached down to pet Flash's head.

"I actually almost killed him, little guy darted out in front of me while I was on the road. Since he wasn't hurt too bad I decided to keep him, he's unusually smart, makes me think he could have shifter blood in his line somewhere but he's mostly harmless."

"Mostly?" asked Kevin, now sitting on a chair behind a desk filled with papers and their half of the demon tablet. Flash had both front paws on the prophets' legs while Kevin scratched behind his ears.

"Yeah," answered Sam, getting closer to the papers to see what Kevin was working on. "He doesn't like it when I bring someone home, but besides that, I've only seen him go off when a demon was close." The dog was licking at Kevin's hand, enjoying the treatment from the prophet. The subject was dropped as Kevin started to talk about what he could make out from his half of the tablet. It wasn't until the young man started to mention the Enochian he couldn't quite make out that Flash started to glow.

Scooting back, Kevin stood behind Sam who was looking at his dog in wonder. Slowly, the glow dimmed until there was a person standing there; one Sam never thought he would see again. Bare as the day his vessel was born, Gabriel slowly stood in a long stretch. Sam was frozen in place while he watched the archangel test out his joints, shifting from foot to foot as if testing his balance before he turned toward them.

Kevin was silent behind them, but Sam couldn't pay attention to the boy right then. In front of him was the man he had thought he had lost, the one who had died so they might have the time needed to defeat the Devil. Taking a hesitant step forward, Sam wet his lips, trying to choke out the others name. Gabriel was the one to speak first, his smirk firmly in place while he raised an eyebrow in question.

"I was expecting a bit more than silence from you Sasquatch. Has it been so long that everyone's forgotten me?"

Sam wasn't certain what sound came from his throat at that. Launching himself forward, Sam pulled the naked archangel against him, burring his fingers into golden hair the same way he had fur before. Dragging Gabriel up into a kiss, Sam used both hands to hold Gabriel's head still while he devoured the others mouth. It was mostly teeth and tongue, still, Sam didn't let go until he was out of breath and Gabriel had his arms wrapped around him.

"A dog? You seriously hid as a dog?" Breathless, Sam couldn't help his grin while he spoke, pressing his forehead against Gabriel's own. A snap of fingers and Sam felt fabric instead of the skin he had been holding against him. Gabriel pecked his lips before answering, and though Sam didn't open his own eyes he could hear the spark of mischief in them.

"Wasn't really hiding this time. Took a lot out of me when Luci went all stabby. I reverted back to Loki, hopeful I could find you and your brother, not to mention _my_ brother who could help restore my grace. By the time I found you I was just powerful enough to heal most of my injuries from you _running me over_. Figured you would let me stick with you while I healed up."

Opening his eyes, Sam could see the truth in what Gabriel was saying. Bringing their mouths together again Sam ignored the snort behind him while he tried to memorize everything about the archangel he was holding. "I never thought," continued Gabriel once they broke apart again, a smile on his lips. "That you would bring me to the one human who could restore my grace. The language of angels, spoken to The Messenger by His Chosen. All it took was me being the last archangel topside, a few words and poof I no longer have to run around on four paws."

"So, who are you? And what do you want?" asked a nervous Kevin who was still standing behind Sam. While he knew there was probably those who would protect him, his experience with angels was no more terrifying than his experience with demons. Gabriel pulled away from Sam and looked to Kevin who was holding the tablet against his chest as if to protect it.

"I don't want anything more than to protect you, Kevin Tran. You were supposed to have an archangel help guide you, but circumstances being what they were you got the short end of the stick. How about you take a break, I have a few places where no demon will be able to find you and you can relax for a while. Sam and I are gonna track down Deano and Cassie, but I'm only a prayer away."

"Wait, we're going to what?" asked Sam, his eyes wide while he looked at Gabriel. Gabriel rolled his eyes before answering. "You think I wasn't paying attention to your prayers? I figure when you guys killed Dick he was probably blasted back where he came from. I don't know about your brother, but mine would probably want out of Monsterpalooza."

Sam blinked, not able to believe his luck when Gabriel held out his hand toward Kevin. "What do you say Kiddo? I got a tropical beach warded against everything and everything with your name on it if you want to relax while Sammy and I bust Dean and Cassie out of Purgatory."

When Kevin nodded his head and reached out, Gabriel snapped his fingers before turning to Sam with a wide grin and question in his eyes. Patting the back of his jeans to make certain his knife was still tucked away, Sam pulled Gabriel into a kiss. It was going to be an adventure and, though he didn't know it yet, life would never be the same.

A snap was his only warning before Sam found himself elsewhere, an archangel at his side and their brothers to find. Sam prayed they would make it out alright, he prayed to the only angel he knew was listening. Before a vampire began to charge at them, Sam caught Gabriel's gaze as the archangel's eyes glimmered. "Oh, and Samsquatch? Love you too."

There was a lot to be said about the power of prayer.

 **P.S. If you want to keep up to date on my writing add me to Facebook, Tumbler, Twitter or Instagram as CrowNoYami ;-) Also, if you want to see what I** **'m reading (I always review so you know what you're getting into) I'm on Goodreads as well, the same name as always.**


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